


Unexpected Comfort

by GoldenVendetta



Category: Final Fantasy: Brave Exvius
Genre: Angst, Hints of Lasswell/Rain, M/M, Rough Kissing, Spoilers, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-06-09 17:09:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15272268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenVendetta/pseuds/GoldenVendetta
Summary: After the party almost dies to Hyoh, Lasswell is depressed. His master somewhat attempts to change that.





	Unexpected Comfort

**Author's Note:**

> Things are slowly progressing between these two. I read a spoiler so I’m trying to incorporate some of that into their relationship to each other.
> 
> Warning! This fic does contain lots of what I would consider spoilers for the middle of Season 2, so run away now if you don’t wanna know.

_ He can’t be. Hyoh just  _ **_can’t_ ** _ be Rain! _

 

The thought that the boy he’d grown up with, the best friend he’d finally admitted he’d developed feelings for, could be the cruel and powerful Delta Star made Lasswell want to vomit.

 

There was just no way! Rain would never hurt Fina. She was too precious to him.

 

At least, she had been. They’d  _ all _ been. Rain used to value his friends more than his own life. That’s how they were even in this mess in the first place. It was because he hadn’t wanted to lose anybody that he’d taken on Sol alone in order to close the Gate.

 

But Hyoh was nothing like Rain. His demeanor was cold and efficient, the shadowed eyes behind the helm empty of emotion. Yes, Lasswell had felt the same familiar power signature emanating from him as they’d fought, but it was distorted, warped. Despite Sol’s adamant assertions that it was, indeed, Rain,  _ his  _ Rain would never have allowed such a thing to happen to him. The son of Sir Raegen had a spirit that could never be corrupted by darkness.

 

Lasswell put his elbows on his knees, and his head in his hands. He was tired. Tired of the heartache and loneliness. Tired of the mysteries. Tired of the fighting.

 

_ I wonder if Father ever feels this way? _

 

He was pretty sure Sir Raegen did. Maybe all the former Veritas had at some point. He imagined it was impossible to live for that long and not get world-weary.

 

_ Even though logic told me Rain was more than likely dead, I refused to believe it. I chased his shadow to a completely different world on the slim hope we would one day be reunited, only to find this?  _

 

What had he been fighting for all this time? And now with Fina injured, it made even less sense. 

 

A lump formed in his throat. He felt so incredibly lost right now.

 

“Brooding isn’t going to help anyone.” 

 

Akstar’s cool, gruff voice behind him made Lasswell jump. He lifted his head, sitting up straight as the other man took a seat next to him and stretched out his bad leg.

 

“Master. Did you need something?”

 

Akstar snorted. “From you? No. But you wandered off from camp, and knowing your penchant for getting depressingly emotional when left by yourself, I figured someone better go after you to make sure you weren’t eaten by monsters while zoning out. That would just be embarrassing for me.”

 

Lasswell pursed his lips. Though it was couched by insult, it sounded like his teacher had been worried about him. He didn’t comment, not even a “thank you”, because he didn’t want to deal with the rejoinders right now. Akstar would never admit to caring about anything.

 

“Your pretty little friend is resting easy,” his master went on. “Well, as easy as can be expected for almost getting turned into sashimi and starting to crystallize. Your other friends are keeping her as comfortable as possible under the circumstances. So, there’s that.”

 

Lasswell nodded.

 

The silence hung between them like a heavy curtain, but he had nothing he could say to brush it aside. It wasn’t exactly like Akstar was the greatest conversationalist. Besides, even if he  _ did _ start talking, he wasn’t sure if it would go over that well. He had a feeling his concerns would be scoffed at as inconsequential, and he really didn’t need that right now.

 

So it was to his utter jaw-dropping shock when his master’s hand reached up and landed on the top of his head. There it rested, heavy, and rubbed. The action was very much that of an adult consoling a child.

 

Akstar’s voice was soft as he said, “Don’t blame yourself too much, my idiot disciple. You’re still no match for Hyoh. You didn’t stand a great chance at beating him to begin with, but we made it out alive, more or less. I hope you see now that as long as you let yourself be ruled by your emotions, true strength will always elude you.”

 

The shame and guilt at his defeat bubbled up inside Lasswell. He clenched his hands on his knees. “It’s my fault that Fina got hurt. All because I couldn’t...I can’t…”

 

_ I can’t kill Rain.  _

 

“If you sever your emotions, you can do anything.”

 

Lasswell glanced at Akstar sharply. His expression was flat, detached, mirroring his words as if he genuinely didn’t care. But the hand that still petted his student with such tenderness bespoke something else.

 

He needed more than just petting right now. For all that Akstar claimed to deny it, he could feel emotion within the other man, was experiencing it right now, and Lasswell wanted more. Too much had happened today. He needed deeper comfort.

 

He was probably about to make one of the biggest mistakes of his life, but Lasswell leaned forward and kissed his master. 

 

It was open-mouthed, but he kept his tongue to himself, despite the desperate urge to swipe it against those closed lips.

 

The kiss wasn’t being returned, but Akstar hadn’t recoiled or drawn his sword. That was good, though the petting hand had stilled.

 

Lasswell pulled back with reluctance.  _ I should have known.  _ He dropped his eyes. “Forgive me. I...I shouldn’t have—“

 

His stuttering apology was cut off as the hand on his head slipped down under his long hair to grip behind his neck and drag him back forward. Akstar’s kiss was hard, teeth mixed with the wet slide of tongue. 

 

Lasswell made a soft noise of need. He moved without disrupting the vicious mashing of their lips, straddling his master’s lap and cupping the sides of his jaw.

 

_ Oh, my Master… Finally... _

 

Akstar’s mouth was hot as he sucked and plundered Lasswell’s. He tasted faintly of sake, and the other had to wonder if the near-death duel against Hyoh had affected him more than he was letting on.

 

Akstar’s hand moved down his student’s back, enflaming him and causing a shiver at the same time, until his arm loosely held around Lasswell’s waist. 

 

He withdrew his tongue with one last pass along his student’s. “Enough,” he rasped. He shook his head as if trying to clear it. 

 

Lasswell continued to cling to him. He was breathing hard. “It was bad enough that Fina got hurt, but I almost lost you to Hyoh’s sword as well.”

 

The eyebrow over Akstar’s good eye lifted. “Do you doubt your master’s skills that much to think I would allow myself to be beaten so easily?”

 

Lasswell grit his teeth. “That’s not it! I, more than anyone, know how strong you are. But Master, the very thought of losing you...It hurts so much, it’s unbearable! I have so much more to learn from you. I can’t stomach picturing a world in which you’re not there to teach me.”

 

The hand behind his back began absently playing with his ponytail, combing the ebony waterfall.

 

He spoke next without looking at Lasswell. Instead, he stared into empty space as if talking to himself. “Foolish disciple. Life and death are two sides to the same coin. My life matters little to me, and almost nothing in the broad scheme of things.”

 

“But your life holds incalculable worth to  _ me _ .”

 

Now Akstar did look at him. His one eye was narrowed but the rest of his expression was inscrutable. “Why?”

 

“Well...Because you are my master.” A brief smile flitted across the younger swordsman’s features. “And I’m your idiot disciple.”

 

The two looked at each other for a long, silent moment before Akstar resolutely pulled Lasswell’s left hand from his face and moved his head away from the other hand still touching him.

 

“Don’t be so trusting. Emotions are a weight dragging you down. Do as I’ve told you. Kill your feelings and grasp ultimate strength.”

 

He started to rise to his feet which forced Lasswell to scramble up and off of him or be knocked onto his backside.

 

He watched, filled with confusion and hurt and longing, as Akstar moved to depart. The older man paused mid stride. “Don’t make me regret saving you today. I took you as my disciple for a reason. Make me proud.”

 

And then he was gone.

 

Lasswell sighed, feeling worse now than he had before as he resumed his seat. But miserable or not, he wasn’t going to let that damage his resolve. He had a task to fulfill. He had to save Fina at all cost.

 

_ Hyoh...Rain...When next we meet, I cannot afford to falter. For the sake of my master and my friends, even if you’re one of the dearest people in my life, I can’t let you win! _

**Author's Note:**

> Gyah! I’ll find a story place where they can put it in, I swear! The party has to be giving them funny looks at this point. “Why are those two always wandering off? They can’t ALWAYS be training!”
> 
> Anyway, if you enjoyed this hot mess, please leave me a kudos or a review. I’m bored and lonely and love to chat. Thank you for stopping by!


End file.
